Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh has a plan to establish a hospital for the employees and dependents of all commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs).
Under the plan, the commercial banks and NBFIs will contribute from their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds to establish the hospital along with the Bangladesh Bank (BB),
The banks and NBFIs staff and their dependents will be able to get the medical services from the proposed hospital at discount cost.
The common people, however, will have to pay the usual fees and charges like private clinics if they want to receive medical services from the hospital, the BB officials said.
The central bank is expected to place a agenda in this connection before today’s (Thursday) bankers’ meeting at the BB headquarters in the capital Dhaka.
BB governor Dr. Atiur Rahman will preside over the meeting while managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks will attend.
BB Governor Dr. Rahman earlier said the central bank is planning to ensure welfare of the bankers through setting up a standard hospital in the city with CSR funds of the commercial banks.
The hospital would be built with world-class medical facilities, according to the central bankers.
Relatives like father, mother, parents-in-law, children, husband or wife of the staff of the banks and NBFIs will be entitled to receive medical services from the hospital, they added.
The central bank has also taken an initiative to disburse house loan to the freedom fighters for 25-year tenure at low interest rate by keeping lien their (freedom fighters) monthly government-provided allowance with scheduled banks.
The issue will be discussed at the bankers meeting, another BB official said.
The BB will pursue banks to consider morality while disbursing the house loan to the freedom fighters setting the rate of interest at the lowest.
The central bank, however, will not set any rate of interest in this regard.
As per the central bank circular and prudential regulation for consumer financing, any bank is now allowed to disburse house loan amounting to maximum BDT 12 million to the clients.
The maximum tenure of the house loan is 25 years and the clients have to bear 30 per cent of the total building cost of the home if they receive loan from the banks.
At the bankers meeting, the BB is likely to ask the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, an organisation of the chief executives of the scheduled banks, to place a formal proposal before the EC to decrease the charge of using its (EC) national identity database.
The BB is expected to ask the banks at the meeting to reschedule their defaulted loans in line with the existing rules and regulation as some banks are sending the proposals to the central bank if the clients seek special relaxed facility avoiding the BB’s directives.
The BB may ask the banks to disburse loan to school- and college-going female students for bicycle purchase.
BBN/SSR/AD